Sunk by air attack, in open water:
-HMS Repulse, sunk by Japanese aircraft off Malaya, December 10 1941 with loss of 436 crew.
-HMS Prince of Wales, sunk by Japanese aircraft off Malaya, December 10 1941 with loss of 327 crew.
-Italian battleship Roma, sunk by Luftwaffe Fritz-X glider bombs on September 9, 1943 with loss of 1,353 crew.
-INS Hiei, sunk by US Navy and USAF aircraft off of Guadalcanal, November 13, 1942 with loss of 188 crew.
-INS Musashi, sunk by US Navy aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944 with loss of over 1,000 crew.
-INS Yamato, sunk by US air attacks off of Okinawa April 7, 1945 with loss of 2,475 men.
-Greek battleship Kilkis, sunk by Germany Ju-87 bombers in the Salamis Channel on April 23, 1941.
-Greek battleship Limnos, sunk by Germany Ju-87 bombers in the Salamis Channel on April 23, 1941.
-HNLMS De Zeven Provincien was sunk by Japanese bombers off of Surabaya, February 18, 1942. Raised by the Japanese and used as a floating battery, then sunk by allied bombers in 1943.

Sunk by air attack, in port:
-USS Oklahoma, sunk by Japanese aircraft in Pearl Harbor, December 7 1941, with loss of 415 crew. Raised and re-fitted, but eventually scrapped.
-USS Arizona, sunk by Japanese aircraft in Pearl Harbor, December 7 1941, with loss of 1,177 crew.
-USS California, sunk by Japanese aircraft in Pearl Harbor, December 7 1941 with loss of 98 crew. Raised, repaired and returned to duty.
-USS West Virginia, sunk by Japanese aircraft in Pearl Harbor, December 7 1941 with loss of 106 crew. Raised, repaired and returned to duty.
-German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, sunk by RAF bombers in Gotenhaven Harbor December 19 1944.
-German pocket battleship Admiral Hipper, sunk by RAF bombers in Kiel, April 9 1945 with loss of 32 crew.
-German pocket battleship Lutzow, sunk by 3 Tallboy bombs in Swinemunde, April 1945. Raised and scuttled in May.
-Italian battleship Conte di Cavour, sunk by RN aircraft in Taranto, November 11 1940. Raised but never returned to active duty.
-INS Haruna, sunk by USAF bombers in Kure July 28, 1945 with loss of 65 crew.
-INS Ise, sunk by USAF bombers in Kure July 28, 1945.
-Soviet battleship Murat, sunk by Hans Ulrich-Rudel in Kronstadt harbor, September 22, 1941.
-Danish battleship Niels Juel, sunk in Eckenforde by allied bombing May 3, 1945.

Sunk in surface combat:
-HMS Hood, sunk by German battleship Bismarck in the Battle of the Denmark Straight with loss of 1,415 crew.
-German battlecruiser Scharnhorst sunk by HMS Duke of York and cruisers HMS Belfast, HMS Jamaica and HMS Norfolk off of Norway on December 26, 1943 with loss of 1,803 crew.
-French battleship Bretagne, sunk by Royal Navy warships at Mers-el-Kebir with loss of 977 crew.
-INS Kirishima, sunk by USS Washington off of Guadalcanal November 15, 1942.
-INS Fuso, sunk by destroyer USS Melvin in the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944 with loss of around 1,400 crew.
-INS Yamashiro, sunk by six US battleships in the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944.
-HNoMSA Eidsvold, sunk by German destroyers in Narvik harbor, April 9, 1940 with loss of 175 crew.
-HNoMSA Norge, sunk by German destroyers in Narvik harbor, April 9 1940, with loss of 101 crew.

Sunk by combination of surface and air attack:
-German battleship Bismarck, sunk by combination of RN torpedo bombers, battleships and destroyers on May 27, 1941 with the loss of around 2,200 crew.
-German battleship Tirpitz, attacked over several months by a combination of RN mini-sub attacks, RN aircraft, RAF bombers and finally sunk by RAF bombers in Tromso Harbor, Norway, November 12, 1944 with loss of 1,204 crew.

Sunk by submarine:
-HMS Royal Oak, sunk by U-47 in Scapa Flow Naval Base, October 14 1939, with loss of 833 crew.
-HMS Barham, sunk by U-331 off of Sollum, November 25 1941 with loss of 862 crew.
-INS Kongo, sunk by USS Sealion off of Formosa, November 21 1944 with loss of 1,250 crew.

Sunk by other:
-HMS Queen Elizabeth, sunk by Italian frogmen in Alexandria harbor, Egypt December 18th 1941 with loss of 9 crew. Raised, repaired and returned to duty.
-HMS Valiant, sunk by Italian frogmen in Alexandria harbor, Egypt December 18th 1941. Raised, repaired and returned to duty.
-German battleship Schlesien, sunk by mine and Soviet bomber attack and then scuttled near Swinemunde in the Baltic, May 5 1945.
-INS Mutsu, mysteriously exploded in Oshima bay on June 8, 1943 with the loss of over 1,100 men. No cause has ever been proven although the Japanese blamed sabotage.
-Finnish battleship Ilmarinen, sunk in minefield after shelling Estonian coastal islands September 13, 1941 with loss of 271 crew.

Scuttled:
-German battleship Graf Spee, scuttled to prevent capture in the River Plate December 17, 1939.
-French battleship Dunquerque, scuttled to prevent capture in Toulon November 27, 1942.
-French battleship Provence, scuttled to prevent capture in Toulon November 27, 1942.
-French battleship Strasbourg, scuttled to prevent capture in Toulon November 27, 1942.
-German battleship Gneisnau, scuttled as a blockship in Gotenhaven Harbor, March 23, 1945
-German pocket battleship Lutzow, scuttled May 4, 1945
-French battleship Courbet, scuttled as a breakwater in Normandy, June 9, 1944.
-INS Hyuga, run aground in Kure Bay to prevent being sunk, July 28, 1945
-USS Nevada, run aground in Pearl Harbor to prevent being sunk, December 7 1941. Raised and returned to duty.

Battleships sunk:
Sunk by air attack, in port: 12
Sunk by air attack, in open water: 9
Sunk in surface combat: 8
Sunk by submarine: 3
Sunk by combination of surface and air attack: 2
Sunk by other: 5
Total sunk: 39
Scuttled: 9

Obviously, the most damage was done by air attack. Aircraft had a hand in sinking 24 of the 39 battleships sunk in combat during the war.

When it comes to massive loss of life, however, being sunk by submarine or surface combat seemed to be the worst way to go.

Submarines accounted for surprisingly few sinkings of capital ships. Many capital ships survived being torpedoed, such as the USS North Carolina, the Lutzow, the Littorio, the Vittorio Veneto and the Richelieu. Their massive armor meant they could withstand damage that would have sunk a lesser ship.

Generally, battleships could survive a few bomb or kamikaze hits as well. Heck, it took 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes to bring down the Musashi. What usually got a battleship was a massive air attack, against which capital ships had no defense.

Only one Japanese battleship survived the war. The rest were sunk, along with most of the rest of the Japanese navy.

"Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time...the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."--Gen. George S. Patton

cool, another thing to note is that most US battleships were raised after pearl harbor and fought later in the war

Of the four battleships that were sunk at Pearl Harbor, two were raised and returned to duty, one was raised but was too damaged to be repaired and the USS Arizona is still down there.

"Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time...the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."--Gen. George S. Patton

My Granddad served on the USS Tennessee under Captain Reardon. He spent six hours trapped on the engineering deck on that fateful day in 1941. The Tennessee was moderately damaged and lost only 5 of her men. Despite the carnage and loss at Pearl Harbor the Tennessee was able to make her way back state side and after her refit in San Francisco, suffering most of her damage from the Arizona when its magazine store exploded, went on to kick the sh’t out of the enemy. The USS Tennessee (BB-43), 5th ship with the name, served with distinction from June 3, 1920 to February 14, 1947 when she was placed out of commission and finally decommissioned and sold off as scrap metal on March 1, 1959. The Tennessee was a pivotal battleship during the war in the Pacific and North Atlantic fronts. She earned a Navy Unit Commendation and 10 battle stars during her service in WWII.

FYI…just so you folks know. The Japanese government has yet to apologize to the US for what they themselves deem as a dishonorable attack, to such an extent the details surrounding the events at Pearl Harbor are brushed over or not even mentioned at all in Japanese schools. What a shame and loss to a generation that needs to know its involvement in world history, regardless. That would be like the US not teaching about atrocities committed during the slavery years in this country. I’ve heard tale that some German schools squeak around the atrocities of Hitler, god I hope not.

I know that my grandgranddad (the father of my grandmother on my mother's side) served in the (dutch) Royal Navy aboard a submarine. Their captain was a n incompetent idiot. It didn't aw any real action and they scuttled/sunk thir own shp, a few men couldn't even get out and died. The captain also died (they say he was killed when a japanese ship sailed over him). The surviving crew became POWs.

PS: Funny how translations work. The Dutch navy, the Koninklijke Marine or Royal Navy (aka Dutch Royal Navy / Royal Dutch Navy) versus for example Britains navy, the Royal Navy (aka British Royal Navy / Royal British Navy).

Well, from what I gather, not all of them were “raised” most were salvaged where they lay or righted until main guns or unscathed hull could be removed and sent back to the states for remanufacturing and placed on new vessels…the remain hulks left to sink to the bottom of the harbor until special salvage crews could remove the rest of the ship. Some that were listing or just beneath the surface were literally dragged back to dry dock for repairs or dismantling. Other that could be righted was done so in the harbor or at sea on floating dry docks. The Salvage Division under the command of Captain Wallin was very tedious. Some ships were righted using heavy cranes to repair damaged hulls and then compartments had the seawater pumped out during or after repairs were made. The entire operation took from December of that year (1941) until February 1942 to complete.

A boat sinks when the hull no longer displaces the volume of water that equals the weight of the boat. Every sunken boat has its' own set of problems. There is not one way to that fits all. I raised one boat by removing the ballast weight, then pumping out the water when the gunnels all raised above the surface of the water. Another was towed to the waters edge at high tide then pumped out the water at low tide, (only about a three foot difference.) You might need to patch holes or turn off valves before you start. One way is to carefully provide flotation in the form of air bags spaced to lift the boat in an upright manner with straps. Bags placed in a compartment can brake through the deck. Straps on the hull if not wide enough can rupture the hull. Pumping water out of compartments in the wrong order can roll the vessel. Remember, The worst thing that can happen while trying to salvage a boat can be terrible.

"Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time...the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."--Gen. George S. Patton

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